Short-circuit shutdown switches are designed to break electric circuits in the event of a short circuit. Conventional electromechanical short-circuit shutdown switches having a bridging contact are known, as is also known from relays and contactors. Such conventional short-circuit shutdown switches have the disadvantage that an expensive contact set must be available for a short circuit to be switched off only once. Moreover, a large amount of contact force is often required due to the two pairs of bridging contacts being positioned in series, and the resultant contact resistance with which the contacts must be held together over the whole lifetime of the short-circuit shutdown switch in order to keep the resistance low. A further disadvantage is that shock and vibration loads can reduce the contact forces temporarily, resulting in situations where the contacts can weld together at high currents.
Other short-circuit shutdown switches include conventional pyrotechnical battery shutdown switches having cutting elements, where a wedge triggered by an explosion, cuts through an electric cable. As a result of the high potential explosive energy, the cutting wedge can also cut through solid cable cross sections mechanically. Such battery shutdown switches are, however, associated with high costs, and rely on an explosion mechanism, which has multiple components, thus increasing a possibility of failure.
Consequently, there is a need for a short-circuit shutdown switch that avoids the above disadvantages.